


By the fire

by Yabanned



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Romance, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-10-28 15:49:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10834410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yabanned/pseuds/Yabanned
Summary: A collection of Zelink ficlets in the BOTW universe. Some ideas were developed for my main fic, "The World That We Lost", but had to be scrapped because they didn't fit anymore. Others are explorations of different canon formulas and timelines that said fic doesn't touch, and some more could come from prompts (send me one, if you want!)





	1. Royal ranks

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Junto al fuego](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11002593) by [Yabanned](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yabanned/pseuds/Yabanned)



> This one is gorgeous because it references the LOZ cartoon. I am so proud of myself.
> 
> If you prefer Tumblr for reading this kind of content, look for me at sch-yabanned.tumblr.com

Sitting by the fire on the first night after defeating the Calamity, Zelda caught Link staring at her. 

“What?”, she asked.

“Nowadays”, he answered after a second, combing his hair with the fingers, “are you a princess or the queen?”

Flustered, she opened her eyes, making a funny face that turned red in a matter of two seconds. Link tried hard to contain his laugh, but he let out a snicker.

“I… “, she stuttered, flabbergasted, “I am Zelda!”

Link broke in a soundless laughter that made him shake and turn as red as Zelda was.

“Link!”

“Excuse me, princ—, I mean, Zelda”, he said, trying to catch his breath, “Zelda, I am sorry, I didn’t know how to call y—”.

“I didn’t say you can call me Zelda”.

Link’s amusement died instantly. She looked offended, with the lips pursed, and a shine of disgust in her green eyes spoke of a wounded pride. Link gasped and stood still, without knowing what to do, until she arched her left brow and then he saw how her lips relaxed and curved upwards. She let up a giggle. Open-mouthed, Link saw her having a good laugh. The queen had tricked him!


	2. Sick leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link is late to a new sheikah rune test, so Zelda goes to his house at Hateno Village to find out what's happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ficlet took way longer than expected and it is so long I doubt it is even a ficlet. I swear I just wanted to write my version of the very popular prompt "A gets sick and B takes care of them", which is a lovely scenario, but I just seem to suck at sticking to prompts. At some point, this text featured a Gerudo merchant, Primma the inn recepcionist and Ivee the general store attendant, that says all (uuugh).
> 
> Anyway, it is fluffy enough. Hope you enjoy.

Standing by the blue fire of the furnace at the Hateno Ancient Lab, Zelda looked at the hour in her sheikah slate. Link was late by forty minutes already. They were going to miss the chance to finish the new rune before it was time to head to Zora’s Domain. 

The new functionality allowed the user to create a bubble of air to breath underwater, which would finally allow Hylians to explore the lakes and rivers across Hyrule and, most importantly, it would blow Prince Sidon’s mind. Zelda and Link had teamed up with Purah and Symin since months ago to develop the rune in time for the next Ropa blooming season, event that occurred twice a year inside the caverns at the bottom of Lake Hylia and that the Zoras never missed because of its supposed beauty. Zelda found hard to believe a Ropa could be beautiful in any circumstance, but Prince Sidon was passionate about it, as he was passionate about basically everything.

“Believe me, the Ropas of Lake Hylia are nothing like the ones found in other areas,” he had explained, “they have longer tentacles which are translucid instead of orange, and their cores shine like a sapphire.”

“Aren’t they aggressive?” she had asked, “because the normal Ropas are quite violent.”

“Not at all, in fact, they are fixated to the cavern walls, they can’t jump.” The prince’s smile weakened a bit, “it’s really a shame you can’t dive deep enough, you would understand if you saw them. The tentacles turn iridescent and grow some extensions from which the pollen comes as a silver, shiny dust that is as bright as the moonlight...”

After another hour of inspired description, Link and Zelda had decided that they needed to find a way to survive underwater long enough to go to the blooming season with Sidon and end his frustration over Hylians' fragility in the water once and for all. It had been difficult, but they were making great progress and they may be on time… if Link arrived.

He was the test subject. It came as the obvious choice, since he was the most physically fit and had more chances of survival if something went wrong, but Purah insisted that it was because, since he had no purpose in life after defeating Ganon, he could very well try to be useful at least one more time and sacrifice himself to science. That was an atrocious thing to say, but the worst part was that Link had laughed at the occurrence. Zelda had been slightly worried ever since, she knew Link was not that cynical before the Calamity.

Fortunately, they had had good scares, but nothing critical. The first attempt resulted in the bubble bursting when Link was fifteen feet underwater, in another occasion, it stopped filtrating the air in the water and he had almost passed out. Currently, the situation was better, but the bubble had a high buoyancy and tended to float. With some adjustments to the energy interactions at the bubble’s surface and maybe a size reduction too, it should submerge without effort, so Link wouldn’t need all his stamina to dive just five feet, and the rune would be completed.

“Is Linky already here?” asked Purah from the inside. Zelda cringed at her childish, high-pitched voice, “I can’t believe he’s going to waste this weather.”

She was right, it was sunny for the first time in four days. The situation was unbearable.

“I will go and look for him,” Zelda announced, “hopefully he will be in his house.”

“If not, ask the kids on the main square, they are always after him and his rare swords,” said Symin, peeping out his room in the second floor, “they may have seen him around.”

Zelda nodded and waved to Symin before going down the hill. Link had better be in town, if she found out that he had gone hunting at dawn or something of the likes, she was going to scold him hard. He was screwed, anyway, but at least she was hoping for a good excuse.

The windows at Link’s house were all closed and he didn’t answer the door. Frustrated, she was about to leave when she heard a coughing fit coming from the inside. 

“Link?” she called and knocked on the door again. No reply.

Zelda put her ear against the door and could perceive a faint sigh. It was Link. All her annoyance faded away, being replaced with worry. Link was the incarnation of health, she had seen him get wounded countless times, but never sick. The door was locked and there was no key in the near pots, so Zelda took the sheikah slate to activate the Magnesis rune and opened after a little struggle.

“Link?” she called and heard the rustle of the blankets on the second floor. The air was heavy, so she let the door open.

Zelda went upstairs and opened the window before heading to the bed. Only a mop of hair and the point of one ear stuck out of the blanket, even so, it was evident that he was shivering.

“Hey there,” she said with the kindest voice she could and grabbed the blanket to pick it up. To her surprise, Link was holding it down and she couldn’t do it, “it’s ok, it’s me, Zelda.”

“Sorry, I am fine,” he said with a hoarse voice, “I just wok…” he added, but his voice faltered and led to more coughing.

Zelda kneeled beside the bed and picked the very edge of the blanket up. Link looked terrible. His cheeks were all red and he had dark circles under his watery eyes, his shirt was sweaty and his hair looked like a nest. Before she could say anything, he covered his face with one arm.

“Why are you hiding from me?” Zelda asked, gently slipping her hand to check the temperature on his forehead. “Are you ashamed?” she ventured while she moved the hand to Link’s neck, sending a shiver down his spine, “catching a fever is nothing to be ashamed of.”

He did have a very high fever; his pulse was running wild. When Zelda removed her hand, Link pressed his face against the mattress and coughed again, then, he faced up, covered his eyes with one arm and let out a long sigh. Zelda wondered what could have made him sick like that. The regime of diving in freezing water under the wind and the rain for two straight weeks would kill anybody, of course, but that was not it. Link just didn’t get ill, no matter what.

“What do you use for staying healthy? Can I bring it to you?”

He spied on her from under his arm. He was breathing fast and a faint whistle came from his lungs.

“Just give me a minute,” he whispered.

“Don’t make it difficult,” she said and put a hand over Link’s heart, “let me help.”

Link coughed and turned his back on her. Breathing heavily, he proceeded to sit and shook his head, then he turned around and got his feet on the floor to stand up, but Zelda got in his way and stopped him.

“There is no need of this,” she told him and put her hands on his shoulders to keep him sit. “Go back to sleep.”

“It’s a common cold,” he replied and averted her gaze.

Zelda took a step forward and embraced him, holding his head against her body. Link tensed, but didn’t resist. She brushed his hair back with her fingers.

“I am fine with you being a hero,” Zelda said, “you don’t need to become a martyr.”

He stood as still as the shivering allowed him to be, quiet. Zelda kept brushing his hair until she noticed he was crying, hiding his sobs under his already agitated breathing. That was also a thing she had never seen him do before, and it was very alarming.

“I am sorry,” he whispered with the voice broken.

“Don’t be, it’s ok”, she replied and let go of the hug to look him in the eye, drying his tears with her fingers “let’s treat this fever of yours and talk a bit, shall we?”

Link made a big effort to normalize his breathing and nodded.

“Do you still have some cold darners?” Zelda asked, and he nodded again.

“Where are they?”

“In a jar, in the cupboard.”

“Would you eat one of them, raw? It will make you feel better, I promise.”

“Like the frog?”

“Better than the frog,” asserted Zelda, kissed Link’s forehead and trotted downstairs.

He was in the same place, a bit dazed, when Zelda came back with the insects. They were not very old, but the wings were already dehydrated and twisted. 

“Their chilling properties work wonders against fever”, Zelda explained and took one by the tail, offering it to Link, “they cool down your system from the inside.”

Link took a deep breath, took the darner and ate it in a single bait. He chewed, cringed, covered his mouth with his hands and forced himself to swallow.

“Well done,” Zelda said, smiling, and let the plate in the nightstand “let’s see if one is enough, I think so” she added and then stood in front of Link again, “lie down and don’t let yourself get cold, ok? I let some milk heating in the cooking pot, I will prepare a beverage to help with your throat, so wait for me while I get it done.”

It seemed that Link wanted to say something, but he changed his mind and obeyed, tucking himself in the bed. Zelda let the milk boil before adding butter and honey, paying attention to Link's coughing and the occasional sneeze. She suspected he was trying to be quiet, which didn’t help at all. As soon as the mixture was complete, she took it to Link’s bed and found him lying on his side, staring at nothing and with tracks of tears in his eyes. She let the cup in the nightstand and sat in the bed, unsure of what to do. Link glanced at her.

“You have to drink it hot”, she indicated.

Link sit down slowly, took the cup and tasted the beverage. Zelda waited in silence until he drank it all and then she took the cup from his hands, put it back in the nightstand and pulled him until his head rested on her shoulder. She could feel his furious heartbeat and the heat of the fever going down slowly, she also noticed the deep breaths he took to avoid coughing so close to her.

“Won’t you tell me why did you get sick?” she asked after a while, “I bet you know why.”

“I ran out of fairies,” he whispered and then sighed. “I couldn’t bring myself to catch more.”

“Why not?”

“There was no battle ahead.”

“Didn’t you think you could still need them, that you could get sick?”

“I’d have it well deserved.”

“Why?”

Link didn’t answer. Zelda moved a bit and managed to hug him tightly.

“What Purah said the other day was a terrible, tasteless joke, you know?” she said and kissed his head, “I need you. Healthy, happy, by my side. So please rest now and take care, we are also going to get some fairies when you feel better, understood?”

Link hugged her back and suddenly pulled her until she was lying down.

"Yes," he said and buried his face on her chest.

Zelda giggled, managed to take off her boots using her feet and cuddled him. Purah, Symin, prince Sidon and his rainbow Ropas would have to wait.


	3. Feel the rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Zelda go to Lurelin Village to take a break and relax. A thunderstorm ruins the night for Zelda, but Link seems to be pretty excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is based on a prompt requested by mewringo13 on Tumblr, which says:
> 
> 81\. “We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you want to stop and feel the rain?” [BotW Zelink, please?]
> 
> It could be at any point in the timeline of the game, but I think it makes more sense pre-Calamity, canon-wise, at least.
> 
> As you may have noticed already, all the previous ficlets begin close to a fire. To prevent this to become the exception, let's assume lightning is a form of fire, _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ style XD.

Another lightning roared through the night sky and Zelda prayed the storm to stop already. The humble wood cabin that served as their only shelter seemed way too fragile, too weak against the fury of the clouds and the ominous growl of the ocean. Lurelin Village was a lovely place, but she couldn’t help but wonder how people dared to live in such brittle households in a region where it rained so much.

She also wanted to know why Link insisted on eating his palm fruit right next to the doorstep. Zelda understood he was not afraid of thunderstorms —nothing scared him, after all—, but to pick the very edge of the rain to enjoy dinner was another thing. Besides, he was letting the warm, unpleasantly damp wind come in to threat the torches, the fire of which was already dim, and she didn’t want to add total darkness to the disaster equation.

“Link!” she called, but the loudness of the rain swallowed her voice, “Link!”

Lightning struck very close to the cabin and outlined his silhouette for a second. He had not heard her, it seemed that he was lost in thought. Zelda, hiding from the rain that slipped through the wood blinds by staying as close as the central pillar of the cabin as she could, refused to move. She looked around her for something to throw at Link, but everything she found was heavy enough to actually hurt him. Frustrated, she looked again and noticed he had stood up and was looking at something in the sky.

“What are you doing?!” she screamed but a loud thunder shook the cabin and her voice didn’t reach him, “LINK!”

“Come!” he yelled back. The light of the torches was not enough to read his expression, but surely enough, he was gesturing her to approach the door.

“Are you crazy?” she complained.

“Come!”

Groaning, Zelda stood up and walked carefully towards Link, who seemed restless. She planned on talk some sense into him and take him inside, but to her surprise, as soon as she got within his reach, Link grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.

“Link, no!”

Her voice got caught in the loud noise of the elements. The night was pitch black, except for the lightnings that the waves of the ocean reflected in its spiky crests. She struggled to take them back to the cabin, but Link was stronger and soon enough took her through a path only he could see. The grass was flooded and it was difficult to move forward; Zelda decided to stick to his crazy plan, whatever it was, as it was better to lose his hand in the darkness and get lost.

She forced him to stop when she was definitely out of breath. They had gone uphill for some time, she was soaked to the bones and the lightning was getting more intense, so much that Zelda could make some sense of the landscape; she even could see the outline of an island against the black horizon.

“Come on” he asked, squeezing her hand, “just a little more.”

“What on earth do you want in the middle of a thunderstorm like this?”, she yelled, trying to find his other hand in the darkness, “you promised me we’d go to Lurelin to relax and this is not relaxing at all!”

“You’ve got to learn how to stop and feel the rain,” he said jokingly and then pulled to hug her tightly, “hold on to me.”

Despite wanting to punch Link and find her way back to the cabin, Zelda obeyed, fearing for her safety. Strong gusts of wind surrounded them and the air got charged, tense. Link’s heartbeat was racing in anticipation. Suddenly, a terrible roar, the louder Zelda had heard so far, hammered her ears. Holding on to Link with all her might, she hid her face in his shoulder

“Look up!” yelled Link, holding her even tighter. She, at the verge of tears, didn’t move, “Zelda, look up!”

The tension of the air reached its highest, another roar crossed the sky. Zelda looked up and could not feel the rain anymore.

The dragon was flying, coming close to them in long, elegant arches. The green scales of its belly shined brightly, as if they contained the power of lightning itself, but they looked pale in comparison of its horns, huge pieces of crystal that seemed to come directly from the starts. The biggest one crowned its head and emitted sparks of electricity, which shined upon the land and finally let Zelda see the crag where they were standing and the smile across Link’s face.

“This is Farosh!” he explained, while the dragon, suspicious, glanced at them with its bright purple eyes, “she protects the Spring of Courage.”

Zelda knew about the dragons, but she had never seen one before. Praying by her father’s orders at the springs, she had believed the legends of them were just that, tales to intrigue and scare strangers. Farosh soared to the sky and lightning struck around them, but she didn’t care about the thunderstorm anymore.

“No wonder why you like the rain so much,” she said.


	4. Cold night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Zelda is overjoyed: his father has finally given her permission to go on a research fieldtrip, only under condition of taking Link, her appointed knight, with her. Things are going smoothly enough until the freezing cold of the night puts Zelda in a tricky situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Pre-Calamity zelink to take a break from the apocalypse. I intended it to be hella more humorous and fluffy than it is, but eh…
> 
> Available on tumblr: sch-yabanned.tumblr.com/tagged/by_the_fire

Lying by the ashes of an extinguished campfire, Zelda woke up feeling extremely well, so comfortable and warm that she didn’t want to open her eyes. For the first time in weeks, her father had given her permission to go on a research fieldtrip and she intended to enjoy it at its fullest, which included to sleep a little longer. Nothing could ruin that opportunity, not even the fact that she was forced to take Link, her appointed knight, with her.

Various birds were chirping outside the small cave where they had passed the night, as the path to Rito Village had taken longer than expected. It was somewhat early, it seemed, but Zelda could feel the warmth of the sun on her back and it was… strange, as it shouldn’t be shining there, but in her face.

Link had arranged their beds so he blocked the cave’s entrance, in case some monsters approached, and she could enjoy the fire directly and watch over a small window opened in the rocks, facing the east. The sun should be coming from there, if it was not hitting her face, it was probably because she had moved in her sleep and that was all.

Feeling lazy, Zelda yawned and squeezed what she was holding. What was she holding? She didn’t have that many blankets, just a wolf pelt and a wool cape. Alarmed, she opened her eyes and saw nothing but bangs of dark blonde hair. Link’s hair. She noticed then that his heartbeat was very clear against her right hand, that a prickling sensation came from her right thigh, trapped under some weight, and that Link’s body heat was the source of the perfect temperature. Zelda stiffed. She had turned around, maybe rolled a bit and spooned Link in her sleep, embracing him like a snake. That was what had happened.

She wanted to scream. The last thing she needed was that Link woke up and found her like that. He would probably stay quiet as a rock and pretend to move on, as he always did, but Zelda knew that, deep within, he would laugh his ass off at her. The clingy princess, hugging him like a teddy bear. What if he decided the story was too good to for the entire guard to miss it? It was blackmail material, that for sure, and she had to escape the situation before it was too late.

The first step was to move her hand away from his chest. Then, she would put some distance between her torso and his back, try to sit and remove her leg from his grip. Zelda prayed for Link to be a heavy sleeper and tried to lift her arm. She touched fabric. After a moment of hesitation, she tried again, felt the fabric again and then froze when Link took a deep breath and his chest touched her hand. She had realized the texture on his chest was not that of fabric, but of skin. She had slipped her hand under his shirt.

Feeling her cheeks burn, Zelda squeezed her eyes shut. That was a new level of self-embarrassment. She bent her torso a little, so the crazy pounding of her heart didn’t give her away, and calmed herself down. It was just a matter of taking her hand out of his shirt without touching him and everything would go according to plan.

As she proceeded, a cold breeze entered the cave. Link curled up and put one of his hands between his thighs, or rather, between one of his thighs and Zelda’s leg. She stopped in her tracks, fearing that he had been awake the whole time and was seizing the chance to finally grab her and give her a good scare. After some seconds, it was evident he was still asleep. Cursing the freezing air of the high mountains, Zelda got her hand free at last and put more distance between their bodies, trying to find a way to sit down.

The contrast between the warmth on her leg and the chilly air around the rest of her body caused in Zelda a sudden urge to sneeze. Fighting with all her might against the impulse, she already had some tears in her eyes and was about to give up when she caught the glimpse of a bokoblin downhill. The ugly creature was sniffing around, probably tracking them down. Little it knew that it was about to save the princess of Hyrule from eternal grievance. She just needed to violently free her leg and scream, Link would think she had pushed him to wake him up and would run for the monster without a second thought.

The excitement made her lost focus for a second, just enough for her to finally sneeze. Link sighed, waking up, and Zelda remained there, petrified and unable to execute her new plan, with her leg still between Link’s. He blinked a couple of times and closed his eyes shut again, yawned discretely and took his hand out of the grip of his thighs to rub his eyes. Then, he realized there was something strange going on and looked down at his legs, then at her, who just wished the earth to swallow them both and bury the episode forever.

Link rolled to lie on his back, freeing Zelda’s leg, and leaned on his elbows to glance at the extinguished campfire behind her. She knew he was going to stare at her again and debated whether she’d better hold his gaze or not, but the bokoblin, frustrated because it didn’t see its prey, screeched and hit the ground with its maze, catching Link’s attention.

Without a sound, he crawled to the stack of weapons he had left in the closest wall and readied a bow, holding two arrows in the same hand. Zelda sit and embraced her knees, too busy struggling against her frustration to care about the way Link would kill the monster. She didn’t want to explain, to swallow her pride, to meet Master Revali and expose herself to the possibility Link bragged about the incident and made him angry. If he was just a knight, the matter would be sealed, but he was the hero chosen by the Master Sword and there was no way Zelda could entirely get rid of him. The whistle of an arrow cut the air and the bokoblin shrieked in pain. Holding back a tantrum, she hid her face in her arms.

After other two arrows and one last scream, Zelda heard Link’s footsteps down the hill. Refusing to move, she waited for him to come back, planning the way she would order him to keep his mouth shut without having to explain exactly what had happened. She needed to channel all her anger in a command so threatening he couldn’t dare to even think about disobeying. Thinking about it, she didn’t notice when he came back.

“I am sorry,” she heard him say and lifted her head, startled. He was sitting on his ankles in front of her, with the head slightly bowed down to avoid looking her in the eyes, and had something in his hands, “it was a cold night and I didn’t take care of the fire.”

He then offered Zelda what he was holding; some bokoblin fangs and one horn. She stared for some seconds, confused, and then remembered that she had asked him to bring all the monster parts he could find, so she could work on her elixirs. It seemed out of place to give them to her at that moment, given the circumstances, and it was even more strange if she added the fact Link had spoken to her, thing that he almost never did.

She took the bokoblin parts and stared at them, feeling her cheeks heating again. She wanted to stay angry, but Link was behaving the best way possible and she couldn’t bring herself to mistrust his intentions. The size of the matter depended on how much she overthought it, that was all.

“Nevermind,” she said and put the fangs on her waist pouch, “I had a pleasant night anyway.”


	5. Veiled intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pleasant night at the Gerudo market turns into craziness when Zelda heards Link infiltrated the town against the Gerudo law.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder why people don't send me prompts but when one does, I take three days to write the thing and I don't even write what I was requested to, oTL
> 
> Based on a prompt by a Tumblr anon, which says:
> 
> 85\. “It’s not what it looks like.” Link with his Gerudo Outfit on as Zelda walked in on him.
> 
> Placed approximately two or three years after the ending of the game.
> 
> Also, there is no way to include the "by the fire" factor in this, it was nice while it lasted :(

“Vasaaq!”

Zelda smiled. Even after all those years, nothing could beat the liveliness of the Gerudo market at dusk, full of people selling all kinds of materials and food while enjoying the mild weather before the night brought its bitter cold upon the town. The merchants clapped their hands from the tents to call the visitors’ attention, offering rarities and excellent jokes to ease the mood and raise the prices, and even the soldiers on guard snickered under their masks.

Although she didn’t understand the need to forbid men from Gerudo Town, Zelda had to admit their absence made the place quite special. Everybody was off-guard, relaxed, confident. The canteen was hosting a big party and Zelda was tempted to go inside, tell the owner she was one-hundred years old and join the fun, but she knew she’d better wait a couple of years. 

“The little Hylian friend of the chief is back in town,” she heard the voice of a Gerudo coming from the canteen. Lately, Zelda had barely spoken with Riju, as there was an emergency with some Moldugas that kept her busy, but she found flattering that the Gerudo considered her a friend already, “I saw her around the old statue with a new Diamond Circlet.”

Diamond Circlet? Zelda didn’t have anything like that. She realized the assumption of her being the only Hylian that could be friends with Riju was rather silly.

“Oh, I am so jealous, I wish I could pay such luxurious things,” said another.

“I think Isha offers her discounts to look good for the chief,” said the first one.

“Or maybe Isha gives her discounts because we all owe that vai our lives, you know?” said a third one, “don’t forget that she retrieved the Thunder Helm and calmed Vah Naboris.”

Zelda’s jaw dropped.

“To think Lady Urbosa would be avenged by such a small girl!”

Zelda ran back to the market. Her mind raced too, thinking about the place where Link was most likely hiding, because it was obvious they were talking about him. How did he look? How had he tricked the Gerudo? Could he trick her too? Maybe he was looking at her from one of the tents at that very moment, blending like a chameleon. How would Link disguise himself as a woman?

Zelda focused in what she knew: he had a Diamond Circlet and the Gerudo knew he was a Hylian. If she asked the jeweller about her “friend”, she could get a good lead. Her shop was at the corner of the market.

“Saab’sava,” greeted Zelda a little too loud, entering the shop in a rush. The owner, a beautiful Gerudo with a very intricate hairdo crowned by a stunning golden tiara, turned around to look at her.

“It’s ‘sav’saaba’, dear,” she said with a smile, “welcome to my workshop, how can I help?”

“I am very sorry,” said Zelda, feeling her ears burn, “I haven’t had much practice.”

“All the more reason to speak the language, now that you are with us.”

“Indeed,” Zelda answered with a shy smile and glanced around her, “I am looking for a friend of mine, a Hylian that is slightly shorter than me and has blonde hair. Have you seen h… er? She told me she wanted to buy something from you.”

The Gerudo smiled wickedly, in a way that reminded Zelda too much of champion Urbosa. How much she missed her voice, the long conversations they had under the moonlight, overseeing the town from the chief’s quarters or the whole desert from Vah Naboris.

“So, you are our favourite Hylian’s favourite girl, then,” said the shop owner, startling Zelda, “I know where she is, but I am afraid I can’t give her away to you.”

The jeweller had a good laugh seeing Zelda’s face turn completely red.

“Oh, don’t be so shy, you surely make a cute couple,” she said, “I don’t know how the Hylians see relationships between vais, but please know that you will always have a safe place among the Gerudo.”

“T… thanks.”

“It’s ‘sarqso’, dear,” the jeweller corrected again and winked at Zelda.

Back in the street, Zelda had to sit down. She was flustered beyond words and didn’t know what to think. What had Link told the jeweller? Why wouldn’t she disclose his location? If he was inside the town, of course he had to know Zelda was going to find out at some point, the place was not big enough to go incognito forever. He could be planning something and he had the jeweller’s approval. What could it be?

The shops were lighting the torches up and the smell of steak came from the open kitchen. At the other side of the square, a boutique displayed a beautiful Gerudo garb, completed with an old-fashioned face veil.

That was it, a face veil. It was perfect to hide Link’s straight, strong jawline while making his big blue eyes and long eyelashes stand out. The head veil attached to it could compensate the fact his hair was too short for a Gerudo hairdo, too, but the little top would only emphasise the width of his shoulders and the flatness of his chest.

 _Well, it’s not like a woman cannot have wide shoulders and a flat chest_ , she told herself, stood up, dusted off her clothes and walked towards the mannequins.

“Vasaaq!” greeted the boutique attendant, a lively teen dressed in pink “oh, but if it’s none other but Princess Zelda herself! Are you looking for Link?”

Zelda stood there, speechless. Was the whole town allied with Link? Also, how did this person know he was called Link? Did she also know that…?

“Greta told me,” said the girl, excited, and then approached Zelda with a secretive smile “tell me, princess, are all the voes like Link? Because if so, I can’t wait to travel the world.”

Zelda laughed nervously. She had no idea who Greta could be and the question was beyond awkward.

“I… I am looking for Link, yes, do you know where he is?” she muttered.

“Link’s a “she” inside these walls, princess,” whispered the attendant with a giggle, “gotta keep the secret.”

“Uh, sure,” Zelda said, holding back the wish to yell him to come out already, “look, I need to find Link because we had agreed on meeting behind the sand seal rentals but… eh, she, Link was not there.”

“Oh, really? Well, maybe Muava can help you,” said the girl and pointed to the southwest, “she knows everything about everybody in town, you can find her hanging out close to an old statue around that corner.”

Muava was an old Gerudo and the statue was in honour of Goddess Hylia. Zelda asked about Link, but the woman didn’t want to tell her anything about where he could be.

“He’s a cute voe,” she remarked with a smirk, “and he doesn’t make a fuss out of dressing like one of us, which is always a good sign. Be patient, he will find you.”

Zelda didn’t want to wait until Link found her. She didn’t even know what she was going to tell him, she just wanted to catch him and learn what in heaven he was planning and the reason why he was pulling tricks to break the Gerudo law. After his slumber, Link had become a little wild, but Zelda knew he had to have his reasons to be strolling around a female-only town, dressed in a cute top and a face veil.

She walked around and asked people for what felt like hours. She even climbed a wall to see if he was playing around the water canals, but she only found a grumpy Gerudo eating hydromelons. Most people didn’t know about him and the ones who knew only snickered and suggested her to buy something or take a rest instead.

“Haven’t you figured out that she doesn’t want to be found?” asked the jeweller when Zelda stopped by her shop for the sixth time, “you need to trust her and wait.”

Zelda wanted to complain, but her stomach was louder. She had skipped dinner, after all. Resigned, she headed to the chief quarters, but was distracted by the amazing smell of soup coming from the inn. As far as she knew, they didn’t sell food there, but it smelled so good it didn’t hurt to ask. Besides, maybe the guests had seen Link around.

The innkeeper greeted her and offered a massage. Zelda asked for the soup.

“It is Ashai’s speciality!” the woman explained, “she’s a connoisseur of all things love, including food. Just go to the back, if she’s not in the hotel, she may be in the tent just next to the garrison door.”

“Sarqso,” Zelda said, getting a smile out of the innkeeper, and walked towards the next room.

Running around had taken its toll and she felt thirsty and tired. Hiding a yawn, she checked the room, didn’t find anybody, went through the backdoor and stumbled upon several Gerudo sitting in a rug with an intricate embroidery, enjoying bowls of soup. Next to them, someone was stirring a cauldron with a big wooden spoon.

Zelda blinked hard. Under the light of the torches, the steam of the soup made difficult to distinguish the features of the chef, but it was perfectly clear the person was too short to be a Gerudo. After a pair of seconds, the shine of a diamond in his forehead gave him away.

“You!” yelled Zelda and began walking towards him, “I got you!”

“Zelda!” he said, alarmed, and put the spoon aside, “it is not what it looks like!”

The Gerudo said something, one of them even stood up, but Zelda didn’t care, she was too busy holding back a guffaw of triumph and trying to see Link upfront. He took some steps backwards, but she finally caught him by the shoulders. 

“Oh, for Hylia!” she exclaimed.

He was, indeed, wearing a garb very like the one in the boutique. His veils were teal with white patterns, and he was using dark purple pants. On his forehead, the Diamond Circlet looked like a piece of the moon. He looked adorable, so delicate that not even the bow, scimitar and shield he had on his back or the multiple scars on his body could make him look like the though warrior he was.

“Are you mad?” he asked with a quiet voice, as she was giggling uncontrollably and he didn’t know what to make out of it.

“I am furious,” she answered, used her left hand to lift the face veil just enough and gave him a hard kiss.

He stiffened and took her by the arms, but didn’t pull out. The Gerudo laughed.

“What are you doing?” he said under his breath as soon as he could. Zelda hugged him, enjoying the fact that the Gerudo top let the skin of his back uncovered.

“What is your big plan, young lady?” she asked, looking him in the eye while she drew little circles in the small of his back, “what are you hiding from me?”

“It’s a secret,” he answered, rolling his eyes.

“You are such a bad girl.”

Link frowned and Zelda smooched his cheeks and temples.

“Hey now, princess, don’t let yourself get caught by the heat of the desert,” said one of the Gerudo and all the others laughed, “set that little vure of yours free and share some soup with us!”

Both blushed, which gave Zelda a serious laughing fit. She let Link take her to the rug and give a bowl that reminded her of how hungry she was.

“Sorry, it’s just that I had never seen Link with such a fancy attire,” she explained the Gerudo, while he sat next to her, “Gerudo garbs are the best.”

“You should buy one for yourself,” suggested one of the women, “Hylian clothes are way too simplistic.”

“It’s a great idea,” said Link in a rather challenging tone, “a white, long veil with gold embroidery over a pearl dress, some nice gloves made of silk and a circlet with a heart-shaped diamond.”

“That would look like…” said Zelda, and then she understood. She noticed how Link smiled under his veil and her jaw dropped when he gave her a wink that would make Urbosa proud.

“Do you like the soup?” he asked, “it’s called Creamy Heart Soup and it is said eating with your loved one will bring the couple together.”

Zelda put her bowl aside, took Link’s face with her hands and kissed him through the veil. This time, he kissed her back.

“Hope you didn’t make any plans for tonight, little vai,” Zelda whispered when they let go, “because we are going to Kara Kara right away, I want to hear more about that heart-shaped diamond and the ideas of a white dress you talk about.”


	6. Shock-still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link is used to pursue what he wants without giving much thought to his safety. After a colony of electric keese catches him off-guard and renders him unable to move, he has to confront a deeply affected Zelda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a prompt by a Tumblr anon, which says:
> 
> Are you still taking prompts? Can I ask for something? From BOTW, 41 or 43, Post-Calamity with Link doing something reckless and Zelda being very angry? Please?
> 
> Being the prompts:
> 
> 41\. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”  
> 43\. “I am not losing you again!”
> 
> I tried my hand with heavy angst in this.

_Breath in. Breath out._

Pause. Nothing.

_Breath in, deeply._

A shock of pain through the spine.

A sigh tried to find its way through Link’s throat, but he held it back. To think everything had been for a stupid silver rupee. Many times, Zelda had criticised that scavenger instinct of his, but he had not listen and now he would have to see her mad once again. Or hear, as he could not open his eyes, nor move, for that matter.

_Breath in. Breath out._

The worst part was that, this time, Link could not excuse himself with the story of an epic combat against a fierce lynel or a ginormous hinox, because the disaster had come from his own carelessness and a colony of electric keese. Link knew very well a wooden weapon always came in handy, but that night he had left the stable inn with only a Hylian Shield and Royal Broadsword in the back, as he planned nothing more than catching a Sneaky River Snail by the pond ―which lead him to another snail, then a crab, then some flowers, then a bunch of fireflies, and so on. The chest with the damned rupee was in the middle of a cave and he had run towards it without checking the walls first.

_Breath in._

It was amazing how much the bite of an electric keese could hurt.

_Keep calm._

Link exhaled very slowly and felt his hand twitch. It had remained closed beyond hope since the people of the stable had rescued him, gripping the silver rupee. For what they had commented around him, it was not visible, and he prayed to be able to move his hand on time to hide it before Zelda, or anybody, could see it.

The least he could do for his dignity was to lie and say there was no treasure involved, that the keese had come to him and not the other way around.

Some steps sounded at the other side of the door.

_Breathe. Relax._

“Oh, goddesses!”

Link wanted to put on a wicked smile, to tell her everything was alright, as he used to do, but his face didn’t move.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty, he’s conscious,” explained the healer, who apparently was standing close to Link’s feet “his breathing is normal too, which makes me believe his heart and lungs didn’t receive major damage.”

“But… his face, his… everything!”

_I’ve had it worse._

“It is like this because, as he can’t swallow, we are unable to administer him proper medicines, but as soon as his tongue goes back to normal, he will recover fast.”

Link wished for it to happen soon. He was starving.

“And how did he break his leg?”

“My guess is that he was bitten in the quad and the muscle jolted hard enough to break the bone.”

“Can he hear me?”

_Loud and clear._

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

She came closer. Link could sense her and feel the relief, the fear, the shame, all the emotions making their way through his swollen body, reaching his burning skin.

_It’s nothing, dear._

“Can you leave us alone, please?”

_Relax._

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will be at the cooking pot if you need me.”

Some wind came to the room when the healer opened the door to leave. It felt like the sting of a million bees.

_Keep calm._

When he was gone, Link could perceive the shadow of Zelda’s face just over his eyes.

“Link, this is the last straw, you understand?” she said, close, too close, with an angry, betrayed whisper, “you have me on edge, day and night, fearing another of these godforsaken letters telling me you fell off a cliff trying to catch a butterfly.”

That had not happened before, as far as Link remembered. The image was very funny, but, luckily, he could not laugh.

“What is it? Why do you do these things?

_I don’t plan them._

“It is hard to believe these are accidents anymore.”

_They are._

The faintest tingle indicated Link that her hand was hovering over him, trying to find a place to land without causing damage. Her silence was too long. He tried to open his eyes, but he only got one of his ears to twitch. Finally, her fingers closed around his fist, unaware of the stupid silver rupee it was hiding.

“When you can talk again, tell me what is going on,” she asked, “please be sincere.”

_There is no need to be this sad._

She rubbed her thumb against his skin. Her hands were always a bit cold, it felt nice.

“I… want to know if all of this is because you are feeling neglected, it... it’s something I have thought about lately.”

_No, what are you talking about?_

“I mean, as my new duties keep me from passing time with you, it makes sense that you are seeking more attention, but please, please stop this, it’s not the way.”

_Don’t think that of me. It was an accident, everything that has happened was that, just accidents._

She squeezed his fist and a shiver passed across his body, hammering the shame, the terrible shame, in every cavity and every vein. He would have traded the silver rupee in his hand and all the treasures of the world for a chance to explain himself at that very moment.

_Believe me, Zelda, I wouldn’t dare._

Link put all his strength in moving, trying to reach to her. He struggled to open his mouth to say sorry, to open his eyes and let her see that he meant it. How foolish he had been, thinking that he only hurt himself when he got shocked, burned, stabbed for some triviality, time after time.

“Believe me when I tell you that I think of you every moment,” she said with a broken voice.

_I am sorry. I love you._

“I refuse to lose you again.”

Zelda bent over Link and he could feel the soft caress of her hair through the bandages. Then, the first of her tears touched the tip of his nose before falling on the pillow.

_Breath in, breath out._

Was crying along her too much to ask to his swollen eyes?


	7. Step by step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda visits Link one more time in his house at Hateno, hoping to make him go back to his senses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "If you say that one more time, you'll hope for death."  
> Sent by becauseus on Tumblr.
> 
> I am so sorry this took me so long! I've had some rough months and I have felt unable to write, thing that may explain the angsty tone of this fic.

“Oh, you didn’t need to do this.”

With a shy smile, Link bowed slightly and went to the cupboard, put the newly acquired bottle of elixir amongst the others and took two plates.

“Do you want to eat?” he asked.

Zelda hesitated a bit too long. 

“I tried a new recipe for the durians.”

A long pause. He didn’t notice.

“Yes, sure,” she said, “thank you.”

“Not a problem.”

He loved to have something keeping him busy, that for sure. Zelda sat down and checked for the millionth time Link’s little, rustic house. She had insisted he moved to the recovered area of Castle Town as soon as it had been opened, to no avail. She had asked him to resume his position as captain of the Royal Guard, but he had declined.

“Are you cold?” he asked, “I can light the fireplace in the workroom, makes it get warmer here.”

“I am ok. Rather, can I help you with something?”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to worry.”

He brought two plates to the table. Fish and durians, what a combination. 

“If I knew you were coming, I would have made dessert.”

Zelda couldn’t help a weak smile.

“Why don’t you make desserts for yourself?” she asked.

“I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.”

“Oh, well. Your loss.”

The food was delicious, but Link kept standing up to bring stuff Zelda hadn’t asked for, or to open and close the curtains, saying the air was too cold or the light was too dim. Even if she expected it to happen, it was disheartening. By the time she was done, he was only midway through his own plate.

“People at the inn must be worrying for you,” he said and took his food to let it in the kitchen, “sorry for keeping you for so long.”

“It is alright, I am not under a curfew. Eat.”

“Later.”

“I insist.”

“It is ok, you don’t need to worry about me.”

“What if I do, anyway?”

“You don’t need to.”

The head always a little low, with the ears tense. Defensive. Zelda had no idea how to fix that and frustration was about to drive her insane. It wasn’t even her fault… was it?  
When they first met after defeating the Calamity, Link was open to all possibilities. They embraced the future together and put hands into work. They visited every town, they won the trust of every community, they solved every quest. It was going perfectly… until it wasn’t.

It had been those damn old Zoras. Prince Sidon had proposed to build a statue of Link and Zelda in the Domain, a gesture that Zelda was the first to admit was too much, but the reaction of those decrepit fish was ten times more exaggerated. ‘A statue for Lady Mipha’s murderers, yeah, sure!’. ‘Are you going to replace your father for a Hylian too, my Prince?’. ‘They have done nothing’. ‘They don’t deserve it.’

She had deescalated the conflict the best way she could. The statues would not come to be, the old Zoras apologized after King Dorephan’s intervention. But Link had downed his gaze and he had not lifted it ever since.

At the beginning, Zelda let him be. It was a natural reaction, after all. She was also discouraged. But he shut down, and she lost her patience. Was it a tantrum? Why was he so childish? ‘Get over it.’ He didn’t get over it, he lowered his voice, he became too anxious to attend town meetings. She felt abandoned. ‘You don’t need me for this’. She cried that night.

“I don’t want to go back to the inn yet, anyway,” she said, “you can take your time eating, I don’t mind.”

“You are losing your time.”

“I am not,” replied Zelda, struggling to keep her voice calm, “I enjoy being here.”

“Will you eat something else?”

“If you have honey…”

Link brought her a bottle and a spoon, took his food back to the table and ate without looking at her. She took her time to calm down, savouring the sweet taste.

“What’s the thing you like the most about Hateno?” she asked.

Link frowned, chewing his food.

“That it is close to the ocean, but it is not hot like Lurelin.”

“What I like the most are the windmills,” she said, “I think they make a lovely view.”

Link nodded in agreement.

“I also like the ocean, and how they have so many apple trees.”

“They are the sweetest apples, that for sure.”

“Do your horses like them?”

“They prefer carrots.”

Zelda left the spoon aside. Link made a gesture as if he was going to stand up, but she stopped him with a movement of her hand.

“Finish your dinner.”

He obeyed. Zelda looked at him with sad eyes. He hesitated, then looked back and frowned again. They remained like that for a while, then he stood up.

“I am gonna reheat this, it’s cold,” he said, “it will be a minute.”

“I will go with you.”

“You don’t n…”

“If you say that one more time!” Zelda snapped, standing up too, “I swear to the Goddess, Link, I don’t ‘need’ you to tell me what I ‘need’ or don’t ‘need’ to do!”

Link’s face went red. Zelda took a couple of deep breaths. He left his food back on the table and sat down. She followed.

“Is this the reason why you came to see me?” he asked.

“I came to see you because I miss you.”

Link looked at his food.

“I am not going to move to the castle.”

“I said that I miss you, not that you have to move to the castle.”

He took a couple of bites, lied back and crossed his arms. He looked rather comical with a deep frown and the cheeks full of food.

“My point is that you are hiding inside this house and every time I visit, you seem to wish I leave immediately,” Zelda explained, “I miss the times when we were together and could   
hold a conversation without you apologizing every second and telling me what I need to do every two.” 

Link swallowed.

“Just try to put yourself in my shoes for a minute,” Zelda continued, “think of how it feels to have someone you care about irritated by your mere presence.”

“You don’t irritate me.”

“It looks otherwise.”

“Zelda, look,” said Link and put the plate aside, “I’ve got nothing against you, at all. It’s just that… you are the queen now; all their eyes are where you are.”

“Whose eyes?”

“Everybody’s.” Link sighed and took the plate again, “it’s too much pressure for me.”

Zelda was about to reply when he started eating again. She decided to let him be and took another spoonful of honey. To be honest, all eyes were in the empty spot next to her. ‘Where is Link?’ she was asked, ‘where is the Hero?’ People had tried to find him in Hateno (it was no secret that he owned that house there) but Link learned quickly how to conceal his presence.

As far as Zelda had heard, most were concerned about his health, fearing he had taken a toll of the terrible fight against Ganon. However, she believed the wound came from other foes.

“What would it take for you to forgive them?” she asked.

“Who?” asked him and ate the last bit of his food.

“Everybody.”

“I have nothing to forgive,” he said and went to leave his plate in the kitchen.

Zelda went after him.

“Yes, you do. They let you down.”

“They didn’t owe me anything.”

Link dragged a bucket of water and put the dishes inside, discarding the rests of food to another bucket close by.

“Do they owe you now?”

Link dried his hands and stood in front of Zelda. 

“Do they?” she insisted.

“Maybe? I don’t know,” Link looked to his weapons, hung in the walls like trophies, “I don’t think I can demand anything out of anybody, I mean, you and I took the Calamity away, but most people… seemed to… don’t take me wrong, but besides you, nobody was suffering too much.”

“How come?”

“It was one-hundred years of Calamity, people adapted to the circumstances. There were monsters and Central Hyrule was out of reach, but have you seen the towns?”

“They are nothing in comparison to what we had before.”

“But they seem to remember that as well as I do.”

Zelda crossed her arms and took a deep breath.

“Not knowing anything better doesn’t mean you don’t deserve anything better,” she said, “that things are good is no excuse to not try and make them excellent… hiding here may keep you calm, but why don’t try to find something that keeps you happy?”

“What do you expect me to do?”

“To stop hiding!”

“You can still find me.”

“But I can’t see you like this.” Zelda took a hand to her chest, feeling her voice about to falter. “This is not you.”

“This is me, Zelda. You need to let go of this hero thing; I am tired of it.”

“I told you to stop telling me what I need to do.”

Link rolled his eyes. Zelda felt the urge to slap him, but she restrained herself.

“I am not giving up,” she warned, “even if it takes me another one-hundred years.”

To Zelda’s surprise, Link gave her a soft smile.

“That’s you, right there,” he said.

She felt her cheeks go red and decided to go to the door. It was late, anyway. They would not achieve anything else that night.

“Zelda, wait.”

She turned around. He scratched the back of his head.

“Thank you,” he muttered.

She smiled and put her coat on.

“Next time, tell me you are coming,” he requested. “I will make fruitcake.”

“I am more into crepes now.”

“Really?”

“Yes, topped with banana and wildberries.”

“Alright, then. I will make that.”

Zelda smiled, strapped her boots and opened the door. The chill air made her shake. The torches of Hateno’s main street painted the night with warm colours, and the young night had filled the sky with stars.


End file.
